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Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Prayers urgently needed

Archbishop
Coakley Calls for Prayer to St Michael to Stop Black Mass

Despite Requests to City, September
Event Still Scheduled

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 06, 2014 (Zenit.org) - Here is the text of an open
letter released by Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, regarding a black mass planned
for September in the city.

* * *

August 4, 2014

The Memorial of St. John Vianney

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

By now you are probably aware that a
Satanic group has scheduled a so-called Black Mass for Sunday, September 21 at
the CivicCenterMusic Hall in Oklahoma City.

Even though tickets are being sold for
this event as if it were merely some sort of dark entertainment, this Satanic
ritual is deadly serious. It is a blasphemous and obscene inversion of
the Catholic Mass. Using a consecrated Host obtained illicitly from a
Catholic church and desecrating it in the vilest ways imaginable, the
practitioners offer it in sacrifice to Satan. This terrible sacrilege is
a deliberate attack on the Catholic Mass as well as the foundational beliefs of
all Christians. It mocks Our Lord Jesus Christ, whom we Catholics believe
is truly present under the form of bread and wine in the Holy Eucharist when it
has been consecrated by a validly ordained priest.

In spite of repeated requests, there
has been no indication that the City intends to prevent this event from taking
place. I have raised my concerns with city officials and pointed out how
deeply offensive this proposed sacrilegious act is to Christians and especially
to the more than 250,000 Catholics who live in Oklahoma. I am certainly concerned
about the misuse of a publicly supported facility for an event which has no
other purpose than mocking the Catholic faith. I am especially concerned
about the dark powers that this Satanic worship invites into our community and
the spiritual danger that this poses to all who are involved in it, directly or
indirectly. Since it seems this event will not be cancelled, I am calling
on all Catholics of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City to counteract this
challenge to faith and decency through prayer and penance.

Specifically, I am asking that the
Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel be included at the conclusion of every
Mass, beginning on the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (August 6) and
continuing through the Feast of the Archangels (September 29). I invite
all Catholics to pray daily for divine protection through the intercession of
this heavenly patron who once defeated Lucifer in his rebellion against the
Almighty and who stands ready to assist us in this hour of need.

Secondly, I am asking that each parish
conduct a Eucharistic Holy Hour with Benediction to honor Christ’s Real
Presence in the Holy Eucharist, between the Solemnity of the Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin Mary (August 15) and September 21, to avert this proposed
sacrilege.

Finally, I invite all Catholics,
Christians and people of good will to join me in prayer for a Holy Hour,
outdoor Eucharistic Procession and Benediction at St. Francis of AssisiChurch
in Oklahoma City
at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 21, the day of the proposed sacrilege.
We will pray to avert this sacrilege and publicly manifest our faith in the
Lord and our loving gratitude for the gift of the Holy Eucharist, the source
and summit of our lives.

A printable version of the Prayer to
St. Michael the Archangel is available in
English, Spanish and Vietnamese on the archdiocesan website (www.archokc.org). If you have not yet
done so, I urge you to contact the Office of the Mayor, the Honorable Mick
Cornett, to express your outrage over this offensive and blasphemous sacrilege
and this misuse of a tax-supported public space.

Commending our efforts to the Lord
through the loving intercession of Mary, the Mother of God, I am